Microenvironmental conditions, in particular, three-dimensional cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions, are critically important in tumor induction and progression, and mediate the establishment of metastases at preferential target sites. Current strategies for preclinical testing of anti-cancer drugs, however, utilize two-dimensional cell culture in plastic dishes. This approach only marginally reflects the microenvironmental conditions present in tumors in vivo, and this shortcoming may contribute to the fact that many oncology compounds look promising in preclinical testing but fail in animal models and clinical trials.
Three-dimensional cell cultures to evaluate breast cancer progression are typically performed in Matrigel systems. This approach, however, is extremely time-consuming, exhibits limitations with regard to reproducibility due to batch to batch variations, and lacks the ability to recreate the elastic moduli typical of tumors in vivo.
There is therefore a need in the art for a three-dimensional, diversified tissue-engineered model system for elucidating microenvironmental events that currently impair the prognosis of cancer patients and to develop new drug screening systems for more effective treatment of cancer. There is also a need in the art for a three-dimensional cell culture system that has reproducible microenvironmental parameters and little or no batch-to-batch variations. There is a further need in the art for a three-dimensional cell culture system in which can be recreated the elastic moduli typical of tumors in vivo. There is also a need in the art for heterotypic cellular models for more efficient and biologically relevant testing of anti-cancer drug compounds in a high-throughput setting.